astronomy

Women and the Economic Miracle

Women and the Economic Miracle is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Women and the Economic Miracle rather than just read about it. In short: Women and the Economic Miracle: Gender and Work in Postwar Japan is a non-fiction book by Mary Brinton, published by the University of California Press in 1993. Brinton argues that women had supported male workers and directly provided adaptable labor, so in this sense they support the economy of Japan.

Key takeaways

Women and the Economic Miracle belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Women and the Economic Miracle to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Women and the Economic Miracle from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Women and the Economic Miracle: Gender and Work in Postwar Japan is a non-fiction book by Mary Brinton, published by the University of California Press in 1993. Brinton argues that women had supported male workers and directly provided adaptable labor, so in this sense they support the economy of Japan. Brinton also argues that Japanese practices will remain separate from those in Western countries. James R. Lincoln of the University of California, Berkeley described the book as "In the revisionist tradition of Japan sociology begun by Robert Cole and Ronald Dore".

Background The author used surveys and the Census of Japan as sources. The survey asked participants about their work history and questions about gender discrimination. The survey was administered in 1984, and conducted in Kodaira, Sapporo, and Toyohashi. A total of 1,200 people were surveyed, including men and women.

Contents In the second chapter she compares and contrasts how the role of women in the Japanese economy versus the same in the economy of the United States. This chapter includes data used to analyze the differences and similarities. The author explores what she calls the "human capital development system" in the third chapter. The stratification between men and women by Japanese employers is covered in the fourth chapter. It discusses historical information such as the oyakata system. The survey findings are in the fifth chapter. Adolf Ehrentraut of the University of Windsor stated that the findings "convincingly demonstrated and explicated" "the relationship between key institutional and individual variables". Japanese census data is used in four of the chapters.

Reception Ehrentraut stated the book is "a valuable contribution" to its field. Ingrid Getreuer-Kargl and Sepp Linhart of the University of Vienna argued that the book's academic thesis had merit to be analyzed. The reviewers argued that, in regards to the author's goal to change perceptions of Japanese women in the workforce, the book would ultimately be inconsequential in changing said perceptions since it would be unlikely that a journalist would read and analyze an academic volume such as this book. Andrew Gordon of Duke University described the work as "empirically rich, theoretically driven". Gordon argued that in Brinton's analysis she "dismisses culture too blithely" and that her belief that the system will give women in Japan more employment avenues is "more hope than analysis." Alice Lam of the University of Kent called the work "a highly thought-provoking book". Lincoln praised the book for having "nuanced and credible ideas" with sufficient evidence supporting it. However, he argued that the content would already be known to people with a high degree of familiarity with Japan.

References Ehrentraut, Adolf (1995). "Women and the Economic Miracle: Gender and Work in Postwar Japan". Canadian Journal of Sociology. 20 (2): 265–268. doi:10.2307/3341012. JSTOR 3341012. Getreuer-Kargl, Ingrid; Linhart, Sepp (1994). "Review: Three Books on Japanese Women and Work". Journal of Japanese Studies. 20 (2): 477–476. doi:10.2307/133201. JSTOR 133201. Gordon, Andrew (1995). "Women and the Economic Miracle: Gender and Work in Postwar Japan . Mary C. Brinton The Japanese Woman: Traditional Image and Changing Reality . Sumiko Iwao Women and Japanese Management: Discrimination and Reform . Alice Lam". Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. 20 (3): 742–746. doi:10.1086/495013. Lam, Alice (1993). "Women and the Economic Miracle: Gender and Work in Postwar Japan". Monumenta Nipponica. 48 (4): 513–515. doi:10.2307/2385304. JSTOR 2385304. Lincoln, James R. (1994). "Women and the Economic Miracle: Gender and Work in Postwar Japan. Mary C. Brinton". American Journal of Sociology. 99 (6): 1651–1652. doi:10.1086/230470.

Notes

Further reading Bowden, Sue (1994). "Women and the economic miracle: gender and work in postwar Japan". Business history. 36 (3): 139–140. Caron, Simone M (1994). "Book Reviews: "Women and the Economic Miracle: Gender and Work in Postwar Japan," by Mary C. Brinton". Journal of Asian and African Studies. 29 (3–4): 264–266. doi:10.1177/002190969402900310. S2CID 220925749 – via Gale Academic Onefile. - See version at Brill Publishers Cole, Robert E. (1994). "Mary C. Brinton "Women and the Economic Miracle: Gender and Work in Postwar Japan"". Contemporary Sociology. 23 (1): 6. doi:10.2307/2074827. JSTOR 2074827. Usui, Chikako (1994). "Women and the Economic Miracle: Gender and Work in Postwar Japan". Social Forces. 73 (1): 356–358. doi:10.1093/sf/73.1.356. JSTOR 2579959 – via Oxford Academic Publishers. - DOI of JSTOR version: 10.2307/2579959 - Available at Gale Academic Onefile Yamanaka, Keiko (1993). "Women and the Economic Miracle: Gender and Work in Postwar Japan. By Mary C. Brinton. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1993. xvii, 299 pp. $30.00". The Journal of Asian Studies. 52 (4): 1005–1007. doi:10.2307/2059378. JSTOR 2059378.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Women and the Economic Miracle

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Women and the Economic Miracle claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Women and the Economic Miracle before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Women and the Economic Miracle ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Women and the Economic Miracle

In research: Women and the Economic Miracle appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Women and the Economic Miracle in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Women and the Economic Miracle is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1993 books, Books about women's history, Books about women in Japan, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Women and the Economic Miracle outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Women and the Economic Miracle in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Women and the Economic Miracle means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Women and the Economic Miracle out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Women and the Economic Miracle in simple terms?

Why does Women and the Economic Miracle matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Women and the Economic Miracle?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Women and the Economic Miracle.